


Heaven...Or Not

by JCapasso



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:47:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 17,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24790297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JCapasso/pseuds/JCapasso
Summary: Elena dies at the hands of an angry vampire and finds herself flung more than four hundred years into the past to the first time Damon ever kissed her.Starts from the end of 2x01 when Damon confronts her about not kissing him back.Elena never took the cure and is a little darker after centuries as a vampire, but still essentially herself.
Relationships: Elena Gilbert/Damon Salvatore
Comments: 10
Kudos: 63





	1. Chapter 1

Elena was getting ready for bed, trying to forget the awful day she’d had and the buried feelings that it stirred up. When she went back into her room he jumped at the sight of Damon sitting on her bed. “You scared me.”

Damon turned to look drunkenly at her. “Just doing my part in the neighborhood watch,” he quipped.

“Thanks,” Elena said moving over to toss her towel in the hamper. “For um…for looking out for us…for me.” 

“That’s me. Trusted bodyguard…calm in crisis,” he slurred, wondering how the hell had had become that person. 

“Have you been drinking?” she asked worriedly, noticing how off he was. When he held up his thumb and forefinger in a ‘little bit’ gesture that she knew was way under-exaggerated if his state was anything to go by, she started to get nervous. “And you’re upset. That’s…not a good combination.” 

“No, I’m not upset,” Damon said swaying slightly. “Upset is an emotion specific to those who care.”

“Come on, Damon. That’s a lie. You care,” she said gently.

“You’re surprised that I think that you would kiss me back? You can’t imagine that I’d believe that you’d want to?” he asked hurt.

“Damon…”

He ignored her and continued. “That what we’ve been doing here…means something?” His face turned hard. “You’re the liar, Elena. There is something going on between the two of us and you know it.” He got up and walked towards her slowly. “And you’re lying to me. And you’re lying to Stefan. And most of all you’re lying to yourself,” he said desperately. “And I can prove it,” he finished, making a split-second drunken decision that he was probably going to regret.

“No…” Elena saw what was coming the second before his lips met hers and they second they did, she swayed on her feet as her consciousness was replaced by another.

Elena stumbled backwards, sucking in a sharp breath. The last thing she remembered was a stake piercing her heart. When she saw Damon standing in front of her she breathed out, “Damon…” and pulled him into a searing kiss. 

Damon was more than a little surprised at that. The best he had expected was a halfhearted admission that there might be something. He was too drunk to even consider that there might be more going on and the feeling of Elena kissing him…really kissing him…would have made any other thoughts fly from his head anyway even if he wasn’t drunk. It took him less than a second to recover from his shock and wrap his arms around her, kissing her desperately. When he found himself being pressed back on her bed and his shirt being ripped open as she straddled him, he didn’t even have the presence of mind to argue. This was everything he’d ever wanted. Damon moaned as her lips moved down to his neck and he pulled her down tighter against him, rolling his hips up against her core as her hands roamed his chest and shoulders and through his hair almost like she was trying to memorize every inch of him. 

Stefan burst into the room before it could go any farther and stopped short at the sight that met him. His first thought had been that Damon did something to her but he could clearly see that she was still wearing her necklace and the fact that she was the one on top of him didn’t bode well for that train of thought either. He felt like all the breath was being sucked out of his body. “Elena?” he asked heartbrokenly. 

Elena stopped and looked up at Stefan. “Oops,” she giggled, burying her face in Damon’s neck before getting up and he groaned at that. “We should probably go somewhere a bit more private,” she took Damon’s hand to pull him up and he immediately followed her. “We’ll talk later, Stef,” she threw over her shoulder as she pulled Damon from the room, down the stairs, and out the door, not realizing the state that they’d left Stefan in, but Damon did. 

Damon let her lead him to his car, and it wasn’t until they were on the road that his conscience won out. That didn’t stop him from from pulling her hand that was still in his to his lips as he said, “Not that I’m complaining, because I’m most definitely not, but…what’s with the change of heart?” 

“What do you mean?” Elena asked confused. 

“Well, last I knew you were head over heels for Stefan and while I suspected that you felt /something/ for me, I would think I would have picked up on this much.”

“Wait…what?” Elena asked in shock. “That’s not…I haven’t been anything but Stefan’s sister in law in four hundred years.” 

Damon turned to look at her, even more confused than she was. “Did you hit your head? Should I take you to the hospital instead?” he asked, feeling all his hopes and dreams fall flat. 

“No, I didn’t…wait…I don’t feel right,” Elena paused a moment as that funny feeling dawned on her. “I’m human again? I think?” She realized that she didn’t feel the burning hunger of vampirism and she felt weaker. The colors weren’t nearly as vibrant. Her senses weren’t as sharp. 

“Elena, you’ve always been human,” Damon said gently, getting ready to turn the car towards the hospital. 

“No…that’s not possible…that would mean I…but…time travel is just fairy tales. Everyone knows that…but how else could…”

“Elena, if you don’t start making sense, I’m going to the hospital anyway,” Damon said worriedly. 

“No, don’t,” Elena said. “This is gonna sound insane, but I think I just travelled back in time when I died.”

Damon snorted. “That’s impossible. Even for vampires.” 

“I know. But it’s the only explanation,” Elena told him. “The last thing I remember was a stake to the heart and then you were standing there…I thought I had found peace…when am I?” 

“February 26th 2010,” Damon humored her. “Same day it was a few hours ago when you were telling me that you could never even want to kiss me.”

“Crap,” Elena realized how messed up this situation was now. “You don’t believe me do you?” she asked him. 

“Not in the slightest,” Damon told her, still trying to decide the best course of action. 

“Okay. One word for you. Augustines,” she said. 

Elena immediately regretted doing that while he was driving, but thankfully they just skidded sideways into the driveway of the boarding house. “Do what?” Damon asked in shock. 

“Come on. Let’s do this inside,” she said, getting out of the car and he followed her, feeling like he’d just been hit over the head with a frying pan. She pushed him down on the couch and straddled his lap, giving him a long slow kiss that he melted into before she pulled back to say, “I’m sorry to bring that up. I know how much you hate even thinking about it, but there wasn’t anything else I could think of prior to this time period that no one else knew.” 

“How did you…”

“Because a few years from now, you and I were captured by them and you told me the whole story in between ‘sessions’,” Elena said with a shudder. 

Damon’s hand came up to her cheek as he looked into her eyes and saw the truth shining there. No one who hadn’t been through it could fake that haunted look at the thought. “I’m so sorry that you had to go through that.”

She shook off the memories and leaned her forehead against his. “It’s okay. It was a long time ago and I didn’t have it nearly as bad as you did. We were only there for a few days that time and they didn’t hurt us nearly as much as they did you back in the fifties.” 

“You really are from the future,” he realized. “A future where we were together?” he asked hopefully, holding her tighter against him. 

“We were married for more than four hundred years,” she told him, pressing another short kiss to his lips. “When you died it tore me apart. The only thing that kept me going those last few months was the thought of revenge and once I got it, I let his brother kill me so I could see you again. This wasn’t what I had in mind, but I’ll take it,” she chuckled, as she trailed a line of kisses down his jaw to his neck. 

Damon threw his head back, giving her more access as his hands ran over her back. “Stefan…” Damon couldn’t help but gasp. 

“What about him?” Elena asked, sucking a spot on his neck. 

“In this time period, you and Stefan are together,” Damon pointed out. 

“Well, crap,” Elena huffed, sitting back, but not moving off his lap. “I guess I should fix that before we do this then. Assuming…this is after you realized the truth about Katherine and fell in love with me for /me/ right?” 

“Oh, yes,” Damon told her. “I wouldn’t give Katherine the time of day. It’s /you/ that I love, Elena.” 

About that time Stefan came busting in. “Leave him alone, Katherine.”


	2. Chapter 2

Stefan had stood there in Elena’s room for a good ten minutes trying to figure out how she could do this to him. And the completely uncaring way she walked out the door with Damon and even taunted him with a promise to talk later…it wasn’t like her at all. When he finally figured it out, he kicked himself. It was so obvious. Katherine was just playing her games again. He rushed out and headed home, guessing that’s where Katherine would have taken him. At least he hoped so since he had no idea where else to look. It would be like her to make him walk in on them again though, just to rile him up a little more. He knew he was right when he saw her in Damon’s lap in the living room. “Leave him alone, Katherine,” he said harshly. 

There wasn’t much that could piss Elena off faster than being compared to Katherine and she got up and stalked towards Stefan with fire in her eyes. “Don’t /ever/ compare to me to that heartless bitch. I am /nothing/ like her.” 

“Sure looks like it to me,” Stefan snapped. 

“Katherine doesn’t care about anyone but herself. She’s conniving, manipulative, cruel…she would sell anyone out at the drop of a hat,” Elena said coldly. 

Damon got up and rushed over, grabbing her shoulders to make her stop moving and then rubbed her arms soothingly. “Relax, Elena. He just doesn’t understand yet.” It was a new experience for him being on this side of calming someone down, but someone had to. 

Stefan looked at them suspiciously as Elena huffed, but let Damon calm her and leaned back against him. “I don’t understand what?” he asked. He didn’t think that Katherine would ever talk about herself that way, no matter how badly she wanted to fool them, but the alternative didn’t make any more sense. The fact that he was paying attention now also meant that he could hear her heartbeat, which Katherine didn’t have either. 

“I’m from the future. I apparently ended up back here when I died, and don’t ask me how because I don’t have a clue,” Elena told him, still with a bit of steel in her voice. 

“Right,” Stefan scoffed. “If you want to dump me for him then just say so, but don’t lie about it.” 

“I can prove it,” Elena said smugly. “You were the Ripper of Monterey.”

“Damon could have told you…”

“Could he also have told me about the list of names you kept scrawled on the back of your pantry door? The names of your victims?” 

“How…I’ve never told anyone…”

“How I found out is a long story, but it happened about six months from now give or take,” Elena told him. 

“But…time travel isn’t possible,” Stefan said confused. 

“I know. I can’t explain it,” Elena said. “But it happened.” 

“So then…I take it you and Damon were together in your future?” he asked heartbrokenly. 

“Yeah. We were. And I’m sorry about before. I thought since I remembered dying, that I had found peace and that you guys were there waiting for me. I didn’t realize…” she trailed off, noticing that she was wearing the necklace he’d given her, so she took it off and held it out to him. 

Stefan shook his head. “Keep it for now. You can give it back when you get something else with vervain.”

“It’s fine. I wouldn’t be able to wear it soon anyway,” Elena told him. 

“Why not?” Stefan asked worriedly. 

“Because you’re going to turn me,” she said with a smirk. 

“The hell I will!” Stefan exclaimed. 

“I’m with him. If anyone’s turning you it’ll be me,” Damon said, hurt that she wanted someone else to do it. He’d just gotten her. He wasn’t about to give up something like that. Something so personal. 

Elena turned and wrapped her arms around Damon’s neck, playing with his hair as she said, “I would love nothing more than for you to turn me, sweetheart, but last time around, because of how much I love you, that ended up causing a whole sire bond situation that was a bitch to break.”

Damon sighed heavily and leaned his forehead against hers as he nodded. “Okay. I get that. But all he gets to do is donate the blood. I get the rest.”

Elena grinned and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “That was my plan all along.” 

Stefan winced and looked away at the sight of them together, but still said, “You really think I’m gonna give up my blood that easily? You don’t even /want/ to be a vampire!” 

Elena laughed, turning in Damon’s arms and holding his hands around her stomach. “I’ve spent more than four hundred years as a vampire already, Stef. I think I know what I’m asking for.” 

“That’s what I mean, Elena,” Stefan begged. “You finally have your life back. Don’t throw it away again.” 

“I had a wonderful life, Stefan. For all that you may have disagreed with the way I lived it,” she told him. “And I want that life back. I don’t feel right this way. This isn’t me anymore.” 

“What did I disagree with?” Stefan asked worriedly, glancing at Damon and wondering what he’d turned her into. 

“Everything,” Elena laughed. “Starting with human blood over animal blood.”

“Did you kill people?” he asked. 

Damon turned towards her curiously, wondering at the answer to that question too. She hadn’t seemed the type before, but four centuries was a long time. It wasn’t like it would make him love her any less. “Not indiscriminately and I ended up getting Damon over that little flaw too in time,” she chuckled leaning her head back to Damon’s shoulder. 

“You turned me into a pacifist?” Damon asked distastefully. 

“Of course not,” Elena rolled her eyes. “That’s not you and never will be. We were just a little more choosy about who we killed and who we compelled.” 

“No one deserves to die like that,” Stefan argued. 

“I used to think like that too,” Elena told him. “When I first became a vampire, Damon took me out to teach me to feed. We hit a college frat party. I was nervous. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. Then I saw one of the upper class frat brothers slip a roofie into an underage girl’s drink. He was my first meal. I didn’t kill him though. I was still a little too soft for that, but I should have. Think of all the girls it would have saved from that trick if I had.” 

“He’s never gonna get it,” Damon told her, glad that she hadn’t changed him too much. He could live with being a little more picky about victims. 

Elena smirked and looked back at Damon, giving him a kiss to make Stefan turn away for a minute before winking at him. “That party was also when you taught me to double dip,” she grinned as Stefan turned back. Elena knew that it wasn’t something Stefan was familiar with and wouldn’t be until he ended up catching them at it sometime in the future. 

“Double dip?” Stefan asked disgustedly curious. 

“Shall we demonstrate?” Elena asked Damon. 

He wasn’t sure where she was going with this yet, but caught the look in her eyes that told him she had a reason. “It’s easier than explaining.”

“I don’t…” 

“Oh come on. It’s not like I can actually bite you,” Elena rolled her eyes and took a few steps toward Stefan, who didn’t seem particularly comfortable, but allowed it. “See the first person gets in front like this…” She moved her lips to his neck, distracting him from Damon moving behind and she shot him a pointed look as he seemed to realize what she was suggesting. “And then feeds from this side, while the other one comes up from behind, like that…”

Damon bit into the other side of Stefan’s neck, taking a mouthful of blood before Stefan shoved him across the room. Elena rushed over to Damon and kissed him deeply, pulling Stefan’s blood into her mouth from his. “Thank you, sweetheart,” she whispered, leaving one more kiss on his lips before he picked himself up from the floor. “And thank you, Stefan, for the blood,” she smirked as Stefan fumed, the bite on his neck already healed. 

“How dare you! That was…”

“Brilliant,” Damon cut him off with a proud look at Elena. “Oh come on, little brother. We just did you a favor.”

“How do you figure?” Stefan asked angrily. 

“This way, everyone wins. We get what we want and you get to absolve yourself of the responsibility,” Damon explained cheerfully. 

“What you /want/ is to turn her into a killer,” Stefan snapped. 

“I prefer avenger thank you,” Elena told him. “I’d even accept vigilante, but I am not nor have I ever been…aside from a brief stint when my humanity was off which doesn’t count…a murderer.” She wrapped her arm around Damon’s waist. “Now. If you’ll excuse us…we have some business to handle.” Damon couldn’t help but laugh at her attitude and detoured them downstairs to grab a few blood bags before heading to his room.


	3. Chapter 3

Once they were tucked away in Damon’s room, hoping they wouldn’t be interrupted by Stefan, Damon pulled Elena into a long kiss. “How do you want to do this? Classic broken neck or would you rather something else?” 

“First…I never got a chance to sleep with you as a human,” Elena said suggestively, knowing they had plenty of time before the blood passed through her system. 

Damon’s breath hitched as her words registered and then his lips crashed into hers. He felt like he’d just won the lottery right now if money had any meaning to him, but this was so much better. This was everything he’d ever dreamed of. He’d thought he’d loved Katherine once, but he’d been fooled. Both by her and by himself. What he felt for Elena was a whole different league. He’d never thought he’d get to have her though, but now he did, and he would die before he gave her up. 

The pessimistic part of him wondered if this was just a dream and with every inch of her skin that was revealed, that wonder turned to fear. If this was a dream or a trick it would kill him, but he decided to cherish every second of this either way. His lips and tongue trailed over her neck and shoulders as he laid her down in the bed, burning the taste of her skin into his memory. The feel of her touch as her hands roamed over his body, the scent of her arousal as he continued kissing his way down her body as she writhed beneath him, the sound of her moaning his name, and especially the sight of her laid bare for him joined the sensations that he intended to hold on to for the rest of his existence. 

Damon dipped his tongue into her wet folds and slid inside her tight heat, tasting all of her as her hand tangled in his hair, pulling just enough to drive his lust even higher and it was sooner than he might have wanted before he was dragging his way back up her body. He was too afraid that this would end before he got to have her completely and as he captured her lips in a slow passionate kiss, he slid his length inside her and her name fell from his lips in reverence. Her back arched off the bed as she clutched his back, dragging her nails across his shoulder blades causing him to shudder with pleasure as he set a slow steady pace, not wanting it to end too soon. 

When he felt her trying to flip them over, he allowed it and took advantage of the better angles he could get to touch her even as she bent to kiss and lick and suck over his chest and shoulders and neck. Her body was slick with sweat as she moved over him with a practiced rhythm designed to push him to new heights, but needed more. He sat up, holding her tightly against him as she ran her hands through his hair, kissing him slowly until he pulled his lips from hers and trailed his way to her breasts, salt heavy on his tongue as she leaned back to give him better access, fully trusting him not to let her fall. That trust made his heart swell even more with love for her as he silently swore to always be worthy of it. In every way. 

It wasn’t long before he was flipping her back over, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer and he could tell that she was right there with him chasing that edge. She pulled his lips to her neck and breathed out, “Bite me, Damon.” He gave a growling moan as he did what she asked, baring his fangs and drinking slowly as they both cried out their orgasms. When he started to pull away from her neck, her hand just held him tighter. “Don’t stop, Damon. Take it all,” she panted, and Damon knew that this was how she was choosing to die. How she wanted to transition, and how could he deny her? He kept himself buried inside her as he continued to drink until she fell limply to the bed and he heard her heart stop. 

With that, he pulled out of her and rolled to the side, running a hand through her hair and over her body, propped up on his elbow, waiting for her to wake up and complete the transition. For her to be his forever. Four hundred years she’d said they had. He remembered telling her once that all relationships end, but now he hoped that they could beat the odds. That she could be the one that never had to end. If she still loved him so much after so long, then maybe they could make it. Even if he had doubted her story before, there was no way he could now. She had known every inch of his body in ways that surprised even him, and he looked forward to the chance to learn her just as well. 

It was almost an hour before she sucked in a sharp breath and sat straight up in bed, and he was by her side in an instant, reassuring her that she was okay. He still remembered how it felt. How unsettling it was to draw those first few breaths after death. How it took a moment to steady and let your body remember how to breathe. Once she was calm, she turned to look at him and placed a hand to his cheek and he leaned into her touch, eyes fluttering closed. “I love you, Damon,” she whispered softly. 

He turned to press a kiss to her palm. “I love you too, Elena,” he returned with a smile, pressing a soft loving kiss to her lips that she returned happily. He reached over and grabbed one of the blood bags from the bedside table and opened it for her. “You ready to finish this?” he asked gently. 

“Absolutely,” she assured him, taking the bag from his hand and taking a long sip, bracing herself for the pain of her fangs growing in and then she finished the bag greedily, and the next one that Damon placed in her hands. Once she was sated for the moment she wrinkled her nose. “Ugh. I forgot how stale the bagged stuff tastes.” 

Damon let out a laugh. “It’s okay, ‘Lena. We’ll go on a feeding trip soon.”

“Oh crap. I should have had Bonnie do me a daylight ring first,” Elena smacked her forehead. 

“I’m sorry, baby. I should have thought of that,” Damon said with a wince. 

“That’s okay. I’m sure I’ve had your mind spinning in a dozen different directions since last night. I can’t exactly expect you to think clearly,” she chuckled. 

“You realize that Bonnie is kinda anti-vampire right now, right?” Damon pointed out. 

“Oh is she?” Elena said worriedly. “That’s okay. I can handle her.” She started working on a different plan than just calling her and asking. “Now I just need to find a ring.” 

“Come on,” Damon said, tossing her one of his longer shirts and pulling a pair of shorts on. “I know just where we can find one.” He led her up to the attic and over to an old trunk. “All the Salvatore heirloom jewelry. Pick something.” 

Elena grinned and started looking through, trying to find things she liked. Every time she thought she found the one she spotted something even better, but she finally made a decision and pulled out an elegant silver ring with an ivory center stone surrounded by small rubies. “This one,” she said with a smile. 

“That was my grandmother’s engagement ring,” Damon said with a wistful smile. 

“I can pick something else…”

Damon reached out and closed her hand around the ring. “No. It’s fine. If that’s the one you want then that’s the one you can have.” 

Elena leaned over and kissed him softly. “Don’t worry. I won’t wear it on that finger until you give it to me for that purpose,” she promised, despite doubting that it would be long. This was the guy who was talking about their five year anniversary on their first date, after all. 

Damon was glad for that. He wasn’t exactly ready to propose yet, but at least she had the ring already for when he was. He wasn’t sure what to say to that, so just pulled her into another kiss. “I hope you know that you’re welcome to anything else in here that you want too.” 

“Thank you, Damon,” she said happily, leaning her head on his shoulder. “We’ll come back and look some more another day.” 

Elena checked the clock when they headed back to Damon’s room and did some quick math in her head before realizing that she had just enough time if she hurried. “I need to run for now, but I’ll be back in a little while.” 

“You’re sure you’ll be okay? The sun will be up soon and you don’t know if Bonnie will get the ring done in time.”

“Don’t worry. It’ll be okay,” she assured him. 

“Then here,” he said pulling his own ring off his finger. “Just in case. I’ll draw the curtains and stay inside until you get back.” Elena smiled and kissed him one more time before speeding around the room to get dressed and then heading out.


	4. Chapter 4

Elena had Damon’s ring firmly in her pocket, keeping it out of sight as she knocked on Bonnie’s door about half an hour before sunup. “Elena? What’s wrong?” Bonnie asked worriedly as she came to the door sleepily. 

“I need your help with something and it’s rather time sensitive,” Elena said quickly. 

“What is it?” 

“I need you to do the daylight enchantment on this ring,” she said handing over the ring she’d picked out. 

“What? Why? Who’s it for?” Bonnie asked nervously. 

“Me,” Elena said bluntly. 

“What!? You’re a vampire now?! How?” she exclaimed. 

“It’s a really long story and I would love to be able to explain but we’ve got about twenty minutes before the sun comes up and I’d rather not know what it feels like to burn to death,” Elena said evenly. 

“Right. Okay. Full story after?” Bonnie asked. Vampire or not Elena was her best friend and she wasn’t going to let her die if she could help it. 

“Promise,” Elena said. When Bonnie opened the door to let her in and started walking off, Elena called out, “Um…Bonnie?” When Bonnie looked back, she kicked the invisible barrier at the threshold. 

“Right. Sorry. I made a promise to Grams before she died…”

“It’s okay. I’ll wait out here. I don’t mind,” Elena told her. It worked better that way anyway. It would definitely hurry Bonnie up with the ring at least. 

Bonnie gave her an apologetic look and hurried into the other room to get the grimoire and do the spell before coming back and handing Elena the ring. “I think I did it right. I wish we had time to test it though.” Even if Bonnie did let her in, the house was far too open and the curtains too thin. She wouldn’t be able to escape the sun inside. 

“I’m sure it’s perfect. I have faith in you, Bonnie,” Elena told her, but still kept Damon’s ring in her pocket in mind if she felt the slightest burn as she slid her ring on her finger. 

Bonnie stepped outside and headed over to the porch swing. “Story now?” she asked. 

“Sure. This is going to sound insane, but I actually came back from the future,” Elena started. 

“What? No way. Are you serious? From how far?” 

“Yes I’m serious. A little over four hundred years. The last thing I remember I had a stake going through my heart and then I’m standing in my old room talking to Damon last night,” Elena told her. “I thought I was in heaven at first, but then things got confusing. Especially when I realized that I was actually human again and Damon wasn’t.” 

Bonnie snorted. “Like Damon would ever get to heaven.” 

Elena resisted the urge to snap at her for that, but still felt the need to tell her, “Damon and I were married for over four centuries.” 

“Damon?! But…you and Stefan…”

“Stefan and I broke up less than a year from now and I ended up falling for Damon. We had a bit of a rocky road for a few years, but we were never anything but happy together, even in the rough patches.” 

“But wait…you said you were human again when you got back…”

“Yeah. It felt all wrong and gross after so long being a vampire so I kinda rushed to fix it without thinking about the little things like a daylight ring,” Elena chuckled. 

“Who turned you? Damon?” Bonnie asked distastefully. 

“Sort of. It was Stefan’s blood, but Damon did it,” Elena told her. 

“And Stefan went along with that? Even after you broke his heart?” Bonnie asked surprised. 

“I kinda tricked him out of the blood,” Elena admitted. “But I couldn’t use Damon’s blood because I love him so much it would have formed a rare sire bond, which is basically a slave bond. Part of our rocky patch last time was trying to figure out a way to break that without killing either of us and the only way we found was far from pleasant and cost a lot a of lives. Inadvertently of course.” 

“Wow. That’s…wow. I mean, I know Damon has a thing for you and all…I’m guessing he knows since he turned you?” 

“Oh yeah. And he doesn’t just have a thing for me. He’s been in love with me for a while now, so we’re together now,” Elena told her. 

“How does Stefan feel about that?” Bonnie asked worriedly. 

“Not sure yet. I haven’t seen him yet this morning obviously with how early it is, and since he just found out last night…”

“Right. Yeah. I hope he’s okay,” Bonnie said sympathetically. 

“Me too. I couldn’t have kept it going though. Not only would it have not been fair to either of them, there’s the fact that I’ve spent the last four centuries seeing him as a brother so that’s just eew.” 

Bonnie couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Yeah, I can see where that would put a damper on things.” 

They chatted a little while longer before Elena told her, “I really should get going though. Damon sent his ring with me as a backup just in case, so he’s kinda trapped inside in the dark until I get back. Plus I’m kinda exhausted. I didn’t sleep last night.” 

“Yeah, okay. I’ll see you soon though?” Bonnie asked hopefully. 

“Sure. At least one more time anyway. We’re probably gonna skip town soon, but you know I’ll at least say goodbye.”

“Wait, why are you leaving?” 

“It’s complicated, but lets just say that the longer I stay here the greater chance of me being found by the worlds oldest most evil vampire who wants my head and he’ll take out half the town to get to me.” She knew she was exaggerating a bit with that last part, but it worked. 

“But you can still keep in touch right?” Bonnie asked hopefully. 

“With you, yeah. As a witch you’re immune to compulsions. But most people will just have to think I’m dead,” Elena said with a shrug. 

“That doesn’t bother you? Never seeing your family and friends again?” 

“From my point of view, you’ve all been dead for centuries. I did my mourning and moved on. Getting close again will just make it that much harder…oh crap. Caroline,” Elena smacked her head. 

“What about her?” Bonnie asked confused. 

“Was she in her car accident yet?” Elena asked. 

“Yeah. Last night, but Damon healed her…” 

“Yeah, we’re gonna need another daylight ring if you could?” 

“Do what?” 

“I completely forgot until just now that Katherine killed her to turn her, knowing that Damon’s blood was in her system,” Elena said. 

“You forgot!?”

“Hey I’m still trying to get my bearings here. Four centuries is a long time,” Elena said defensively. She wouldn’t have prevented if she could have though, not that she was going to tell Bonnie that. 

Bonnie deflated at that and headed inside. “I’ll find a ring we can give her and get it enchanted.” 

“Thanks Bonnie. Meet me at the hospital after? I’m gonna go get some backup. Hopefully we can catch her before she hurts anyone.” 

“Did she last time?” Bonnie asked worriedly. 

“She’s a new vampire with no idea how to function and last time we didn’t find out for two days to be able to help her. Of course she hurt people,” Elena rolled her eyes before taking off at a run. 

She got Damon his ring back and then they both went to wake up Stefan who was obviously still pissed at them. Even more so when he realized that Elena had completed her transition and fed. “Listen we don’t have time for judgy Stefan right now,” Damon snapped. “We have a bit of an emergency.”

“What happened? Regretting turning Elena already?” Stefan taunted. 

“Not me, but Caroline turning and being trapped in a hospital alone with no idea what to do is definitely a regret,” Elena snapped. 

“What?! How did that happen?” Stefan asked getting up and grabbing for some clothes, glad that he was wearing underwear at least. 

“She was dying, Bonnie and old Elena begged me to heal her. Apparently Katherine snuck in later and killed her,” Damon explained as they headed out. 

“Wait,” Stefan stopped them. “Elena you’ll have to stay here. The sun…”

“Already covered,” Elena told him showing off her ring that was on her left middle finger. “And Bonnie is gonna meet us there with a ring for Caroline.” 

They got to the hospital just as Caroline started feeding on the nurse. Damon and Stefan immediately pulled her away, while Elena rushed forward and compelled the nurse to believe that she hurt her neck when she fell down and that she needed to release Caroline and remember nothing else. “You’re good at that,” Damon said proudly once they got Caroline calmed down. 

“Lots of practice,” Elena chuckled as Bonnie showed up with the ring for Caroline. While the nurse was getting her discharge paperwork, they all sat down and explained what was happening to her, not that Damon participated much. He was here to show Elena support, but otherwise he didn’t really care and spent most of his time snooping through the cupboards to relieve his boredom.


	5. Chapter 5

Once the initial explanations were done, the four vampires headed back to the Salvatore house. Bonnie had to agree to go work on the carnival preparations to keep Caroline from having an aneurysm. Once they got there, Elena told Stefan, “We’ll let you handle the rest of the explanations and teaching stuff. I, for one, need to get some sleep.” 

“I can go for that,” Damon agreed. He hadn’t slept last night either. Not that he was complaining, of course, but sleep would be nice. 

“Fine,” Stefan said with a grimace as they headed upstairs. 

“I may not be the most observant person in the world, but I’m pretty sure I’m missing something here,” Caroline said looking after them confusedly and back to Stefan. 

“Yeah, they’re together now,” Stefan said. 

“Since yesterday?” Caroline asked incredulously. She knew that Stefan and Elena had been happy together at the Founder’s Day celebrations.

“Apparently, Elena’s future self came back from where she had been married to Damon for centuries or something,” Stefan huffed. “That’s why they turned her last night. Apparently she didn’t want to be human again.”

“That…sucks,” Caroline told him. 

Stefan snorted. “That’s an understatement.” 

“Well, why don’t you get your mind off of it by teaching me what I need to know so I can hurry up and get to the carnival. There’s way too much to do for Bonnie to handle it /all/ day.”

“No, you can’t go to the carnival. You need at least a few days to settle,” Stefan told her. 

“Then you can come with me,” Caroline said firmly. “But I’m going. One way or another.” 

Once they got upstairs, Elena pulled Damon into a long kiss before stripping down for bed, prompting him to do the same. As she stretched out to his side and laid her head on his chest, he wrapped his arm around her and kissed her head, still wondering how he managed to get so lucky. They were both asleep in minutes, and when Elena woke up, she was alone in bed. She got up with a frown, threw on one of his shirts, and went to look for him. She found him sitting in front of the fire, swirling his drink in his hand, and lost in thought, so she went over to sit next to him and wait for him to say something about what was on his mind. 

“I’m not that guy yet, Elena,” he finally said after a minute. 

“Not what guy?” Elena asked, sliding her arm into his and leaning her head on his shoulder. 

“I’m not the guy you fell in love with,” he explained. “I’ve changed so much since we’ve met and I can’t imagine how much more I would have changed between now and when you fell in love with me.”

Elena smiled and reached a hand to his cheek, turning him to look at her. “You seem to be under the misconception that I loved you for your actions,” she said gently. “I love you for this,” she placed a hand over his heart. “And that doesn’t change.”

“I don’t have a heart, Elena,” he told her. 

“Liar,” Elena huffed a laugh. “You wanna know what really changed between now and the time I fell in love with you?” 

“What?” Damon asked skeptically. 

“You let me in. You let me see you. And I loosened up enough that I could accept you for /all/ that you are.” 

“What do you mean?” he asked confused. 

“You once told me that you don’t let people see the good in you because when they see good, they expect good and you didn’t want to have to live up to their expectations. I told you we had a rocky start, and that was part of why. Once you let me see the good in you, I did have those expectations and you tried so hard to live up to them that it nearly destroyed everything that you really are. It took a while for us to find a balance.”

“I’m not a good guy, Elena,” he sighed. 

“I know,” she said matter-of-factly. “But you’re not a bad guy either. You have aspects of both, just like anyone else, and I love /all/ of you. The good and the bad.”

“I don’t know what I was like in the future, but right now there is a lot more bad than good,” he pointed out. 

“No there’s not,” she shook her head. “Look, Damon. I was your friend at this point in time, yes?” He nodded. “Then that should tell you that there is good in you. That I could see it. You heart, Damon, the core of who you are…that doesn’t change. The only thing that changes is what you let people see. I’m not asking you to be exactly like you were then, because you’re not. You haven’t had the same experiences, the same hardships, the same joys, but you’re still the same person either way.”

Damon could feel himself starting to relax at that as the heaviness that had settled in his heart started to ease. “You really think so?” 

“I know so, Damon,” she said earnestly. “And I’m glad that I get a chance to fix my mistakes this time around.”

“What mistakes?” he asked curiously. 

“Pushing you to be better than you were and hurting you in the process,” she told him. “When I saw the good in you, I thought it was my job to nurture it and grow it. I put expectations on you that you couldn’t live up to, though you tried so hard to manage it. You were never truly happy though. I made you feel like I couldn’t love you for yourself so you had to change to deserve my love. That wasn’t it though, Damon. I always loved you for yourself. I was just fighting with myself at the time. Trying to reconcile my human morals with the life of a vampire.”

Damon nodded as he reached out and pulled her close. “I remember how hard that can be. I get it.”

“When we eventually talked later about it, you said that you wished you had found a way to talk me through that rather than try to compromise yourself for me. You just didn’t want to take the risk of losing me if you pushed. You were willing to become someone you weren’t just to make me happy, and I love that you cared so much, but I’m glad that you won’t have to this time. We’re not human and we can’t be held to the same standards as humans. It would be like blaming the lion for eating the gazelle.”

“But we’re not mindless beasts,” Damon pointed out, trying to find out just how far on this road of discovery she had gone. 

“No. We’re not. Which is why we don’t kill indiscriminately. We kill those the world would be better off without. Just like the lion eating the slowest gazelle speeds up the whole herd and makes it easier for them to live. And beyond that, we still need to survive so there’s nothing wrong with a little snatch, eat, erase. It’s not like it hurts anyone.”

“But I have crossed that line, Elena. Many times,” Damon told her, leaning his head against hers and hoping against hope that she already knew everything and wasn’t going to bail. 

“I know,” she chuckled. “And you will many times in the future. Just as I will. We’re not perfect, Damon.” 

They were interrupted by the ringing of Elena’s phone and she looked at it to see that it was Jenna and sighed. She wished that she could just avoid them all until she took off, but she didn’t know how long it would take to tie up their loose end, so she answered. “Hey, Jenna,” she said cheerfully. 

“Elena? Are you okay? I got a call from the school…”

“Yeah, I was up most of the night not feeling well, so I kinda slept most of the day. I’m fine though,” she promised. 

“Not feeling well how?” Jenna asked suspiciously. 

“Just a little stomach bug. Nothing to worry about.”

“You’re not pregnant are you?” Jenna asked worriedly and Damon shoved his fist in his mouth in an effort not to laugh. 

“No, definitely not,” Elena assured her. “Why would you think that?” 

“Just sick to your stomach, sleeping a lot, being evasive…I know you’ve been spending a lot of nights with your boyfriend…it’s a reasonable assumption.”

“I guess when you put it like that, but no. Definitely not pregnant. We’re very careful,” Elena assured her.

“You’ll be at the carnival tonight then?” Jenna asked. 

Elena resisted the urge to sigh. It would be necessary to keep up appearances. “Yeah. I’ll be there.” 

Once she hung up, Damon asked, “You didn’t tell her about us?” 

“That would involve a little too much heart to heart for my taste,” Elena told him. 

“You don’t want to reconnect with your family?” Damon asked curiously. 

“No. I really don’t. From my point of view they’ve all been dead and dusted for centuries. I’ve mourned them and moved on. Getting close again would be pointless. You’re my family now. You and Stefan and the others we picked up along the way.” 

“Others?” 

“We have plenty of time for the full debrief, but for now it seems like we need to get ready for the carnival. You are coming with me right?”

“I suppose I could be bothered,” Damon teased, giving her a quick kiss. Elena grinned as they headed upstairs and she took a minute to move all of her clothes that were there out of Stefan’s room and into Damon’s before she changed.


	6. Chapter 6

As they were headed out, Elena told Damon, “I might need a little help with what’s going on in my life right now.”

“Right. That makes sense. Since you remembered about Caroline, I’m guessing you know that Katherine is around.” Elena nodded. “You and Jeremy are on the outs now that he’s found out about vampires and the compulsion.”

“That’s good. It means I have a good excuse for avoiding home and Jenna was never the most hands on guardian, so I should be okay to keep my distance for the most part.”

“Hmm. Let’s see…I can’t think of anything else important, but if something comes up I’ll let you know and help cover if needed,” Damon promised. 

Once they got to the carnival, more than a few eyebrows were raised at Damon and Elena being there together, but since they never left each other’s side, they managed to avoid questions. No one was going to be crude enough to ask her about Stefan right now. It did increase the rumors about the three of them being in it together though. Neither of them really cared, so they just let people talk and enjoyed the evening. Jeremy looked at them distastefully when they stumbled across each other, but didn’t say anything. 

The only aberration of the evening was when Jenna cornered them and relatively politely asked Damon to take a hike so she could talk to Elena alone. “What are you doing, Elena?” she asked disappointed. 

“What do you mean?” Elena asked, playing dumb. 

“First you’re kissing Damon outside the house a couple nights ago, now this. What about Stefan?” Jenna asked. She didn’t really approve of Damon for the most part. She’d dated enough guys like him to know the dangers, but that was one of those mistakes that Elena would need to make for herself. Jerking Stefan around like this with his brother was a different story. 

“Stefan and I broke up,” Elena told her. “I never wanted to hurt him, but I just couldn’t help falling in love with Damon any more than he could help falling in love with me.”

“Honey, I’ve dated guys like Damon before. You really don’t want to go there,” Jenna warned. 

“I get it, Jenna. Maybe you’re right and it is a mistake and it won’t last, but he makes me happy. I love him and I tried to fight it for so long, but I couldn’t. I owe it to myself to see where this can go. Please understand that.” 

Jenna sighed. “Okay. I do understand that. I just wish…never mind,” she shook her head. “Just know that I’m here for you when you need it.” 

“Thanks Jenna,” Elena said with a smile as she walked off and headed straight for Damon who was a few booths away, playing a game and clearly eavesdropping. Elena walked up and slid an arm around his waist as he won the game. He let her pick the stuffed animal she wanted before they continued their way through the carnival. “You know that I don’t believe what I told her about us being a mistake and not lasting right? It’s just that if I hadn’t it would have prolonged the lecture.”

“I know, ‘Lena,” Damon said leaning down for a kiss. It hadn’t been easy to hear and there had been a little nugget of doubt, but that was banished now so there was no point mentioning it, even if he would have anyway. When they ran across Caroline and Stefan, they were both rather cold to them, so that encounter didn’t last long and Damon sighed heavily when they walked off. “They’ll get over it,” Elena assured him. 

“I hope so. I was just starting to get my brother back,” Damon said sadly. 

“I know,” she stopped and pulled him into a hug. “And you will again. He just needs a little time to get past this.” 

Damon held her tightly and buried his face in her hair, breathing her in. “You know, when you say it, I almost believe it,” he chuckled. 

She grinned and kissed him before saying, “Come on. It should be dark enough for the ferris wheel by now.” 

“Dark enough?” Damon asked raising an eyebrow amusedly. 

“You’ll see,” she almost purred, before taking his hand and dragging him in that direction. There was no way he wasn’t going to follow willingly after that. Elena compelled the attendant to give them a long ride, and once they were in their seats and moving, she pulled him into a searing kiss. The kiss only broke for a moment as they rounded the bottom again, but once they were headed back up, Damon pulled her back in breathlessly and this time, her hand went to the front of his pants pulling a moan from his throat as his lips attacked her neck. He wished that she wasn’t wearing a dress so that he could get to more of her skin, as his hand gripped her breast, but that wish got taken back soon. 

They broke apart at the next pass through the bottom again, and then they were right back where they were, but this time, Elena guided his hand up under her dress and he choked a moan as he realized that she wasn’t wearing underwear. As he slid two fingers inside her, she gasped a moan of her own and gripped his hair tightly with one hand while the other worked harder and faster over his aching erection that was straining the front of his pants. They both gave needy whimpers the next time they had to separate, but the second they were back out of the spotlight, he quickly pressed his fingers back into her. Instead of rubbing him through his pants this time, she worked them open and pulled out his leaking cock. 

Damon’s fingers moved faster inside her as they stopped about halfway up and his thumb trailed over her clit while her hand slid more firmly over his dick, rubbing her own thumb over the slit with a twist of her hand on every upstroke. Damon curled his fingers against her sweet spot and smothered her gasp with his lips as his hips pressed up into her hand. “God…’Lena…” Damon breathed out as he felt himself teetering on the edge and he could tell that she was right there with him. He kissed her again as they swallowed each other’s cries and they both exploded together. 

They were headed down the other side now, but were still stopping and starting as they let people off, so they had a little more time. Elena pulled her cum-covered hand to her lips and started slowly licking it off with a smirk at Damon. He decided two could play that game so he made a show of licking his own hand clean too. By the time they finished their teasing, Damon barely had time to tuck himself back into his pants before they ended up getting caught. As they stepped off the ride, Damon wrapped his arm around her, pulling her to his side as he leaned down to whisper, “What do you say we continue this party at home?”

Elena grinned and gave his ass a squeeze as her arm went around his waist. “That sounds like a perfect plan.” 

The drive home was spent with more teasing and by the time they got there, they were both more than ready to go. As they stepped in the door, Damon pulled her into a passionate kiss as his hand moved down over her ass to her thighs. Elena took the hint and gave a little jump, wrapping her legs around his waist and feeling his length pressing against her bare skin, but still trapped by his jeans. He continued kissing her as he carried her that way up the stairs while she pulled his shirt open and slid it off his shoulders, not noticing or caring that it ended up on the ground halfway up the stairs. It was soon followed by her shoes as she kicked them off. 

As Damon kicked the bedroom door closed behind them, he stripped her dress over her head and laid her on the bed, quickly removing the rest of his clothes and joining her. He’d had more than enough of the foreplay by this point and quickly sheathed himself inside her. “Yes…Damon!” she cried out arching her back off the bed, as he dragged his lips back to hers. He set a hard, fast rhythm and she met him with every thrust, hands and lips dragging over every bit of skin they could reach. She screamed his name as the stars exploded behind her eyes and felt him fall over the edge with her. 

He stilled over her, both of them trying to catch their breath, as her hands trailed slowly up his arms, over his shoulders and into his hair, holding his forehead against hers. “I love you, Damon,” she breathed out. 

“I love you too, Elena,” he whispered back, tilting his head forward for a long slow kiss before he rolled to the side. She followed his motion and plastered herself to his side, resting her head on his chest as he trailed a hand through her hair. His other hand slid over the arm that she’d thrown over his stomach and he turned to kiss her head. He was starting to believe that he really could have this. That he could get a happy ending of his own. It had barely been more than twenty four hours ago that he was madly in love with a woman he could never have and now here she was, in his bed, loving him just as much as he loved her.


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, Elena woke first, and as much as part of her wanted nothing more than to stay in Damon’s arms for a while, her hunger was burning uncontrollably. She had forgotten how much more new vampires needed. She pulled herself gently from Damon’s arms and grabbed one of his shirts, buttoning it enough to cover herself and since it hung halfway down her thighs she didn’t feel the need to put anything else on as she headed downstairs. 

She found Caroline sitting on the couch in the living room with a cup of coffee. “There you are. We need to talk,” Caroline said sternly. 

Elena sighed. “Okay. Just let me grab some breakfast first before I lose it,” she headed down to the basement and grabbed two bags of blood, coming back up and sitting next to Caroline. She offered her one, but Caroline refused. Once she had one of them opened and took a long pull, she sighed in relief. “Okay, shoot.” 

“Stefan does not deserve to be treated this way,” Caroline said irritated. 

“How exactly am I treating him?” Elena asked, wanting to know the actual complaint before she responded. 

“The way you just threw him over for Damon without a thought to his feelings and have been ignoring him ever since and even throwing it in his face…do you have any idea how he felt finding that trail of clothes leading up the stairs last night?” 

Elena winced and actually felt bad about that one. “Yeah, sorry about the clothes. I wasn’t even thinking. Try to see things from my point of view though. How would you react if you had a brother that was in love with you?”

“He’s not your brother. He was your boyfriend,” Caroline snapped. 

“Yeah. At this point in time. I know he told you that I’m from the future. When I’m from, he’s been my brother for over four centuries. Brother-in-law technically but we very much had a sibling relationship. Do you realize how uncomfortable it is for me to be around him when he feels like this about me?” Elena asked. 

“Oh,” Caroline deflated, starting to realize the problem. 

“As far as throwing him over for Damon, maybe I could have handled that a little better, but what you need to understand is that he died months before I did. He was my entire world and I completely fell apart without him. The only thing that kept me going was getting revenge and once that was done, I let myself be killed so that I could see him again and then I was here and he was here and I just…” Elena let out a heavy breath. “I never meant to hurt Stef. That’s the last thing I wanted, but it is what it is, and I can’t change that.”

“Okay. I get that. I’m sorry I got mad at you,” Caroline said with a sheepish smile which Elena returned with a nod as she opened the second blood bag and started to drink. “But maybe if you told him who he ended up marrying it could help him get over you.”

Elena shook her head firmly, especially given who she was talking to at the moment. “No. Not a chance.”

“You owe him that much, Elena,” Caroline tried to argue. 

“No, I owe him the chance to find her himself,” Elena explained. “If I tell him who it was, then both him and her will always wonder if it could have happened naturally again. If he would have fallen for her if he didn’t know.” 

“That’s stupid. If they’re meant to be then they will be no matter what he knows and when. It’ll just give him someone else to focus on other than you,” Caroline said. 

Elena was getting more than a little annoyed. She just didn’t get it. “Fine. I’ll tell you and you can decide what to do with it. I’ll wash my hands of the whole thing.”

“Okay,” Caroline agreed. She still got what she wanted either way. “So who was it.”

“You,” Elena said simply. “Now you can decide if that’s the way you really want to start a relationship. If you want to live with that for the rest of your existence.” Elena got up, having drained the second blood bag, and started back towards the stairs. 

“You told Damon,” Caroline pointed out, looking for some kind of solid ground. 

“Damon was already in love with me. Plus the fact that I still didn’t really understand what was going on when I let that slip,” Elena told her before continuing on her way, and sliding back into bed with Damon before he woke up. 

Caroline winced, realizing how much she’d screwed up as Stefan came out of the kitchen. She’d wanted to get him some answers and since Elena wasn’t talking to him, then she was determined to get them herself. “Stefan, I…”

“It’s fine, Caroline,” he waved her off. “Let’s just forget about that part for now.” He understood Elena’s reluctance now too. 

“Okay,” she said uncomfortably. “But at least you got your other answers, right?” she tried to break the ice. 

Stefan nodded slowly. He got it now. Why Elena had been avoiding him. He would be more than a little uncomfortable in that situation too. It didn’t mean that he liked who she was now. The casual way that she talked about killing people and feeding on people, not to mention the way she’d tricked and manipulated him to get his blood. But apparently he did like her in the future, so maybe he should give her a chance. It dawned on him that Damon had been in this same position a few days ago. Watching the woman he loved with someone else and having to content himself with just being her friend. He had a new sympathy for his brother now. Stefan didn’t even have her friendship right now though. She was avoiding him, and he couldn’t really blame her, knowing what he knew now. They needed to get past this though. They needed to find a new normal or they wouldn’t be able to move forward. He would lose her completely and his brother too. There was no question that where she went, he would go too. 

Caroline let Stefan get lost in his thoughts, not sure what to say to him or how to help. Instead she just went and started another pot of coffee for when Damon and Elena got up and then found a book to read. She understood now why Stefan didn’t want her going off on her own at the moment. He’d had to help her control herself more than once yesterday before she ate people and he’d promised to take her out hunting later today. She couldn’t say that she liked the blood he’d given her this morning from his stash, but maybe it would be better fresh. She hoped so anyway. 

When Damon woke up almost an hour after Elena climbed back into bed, he instinctively pulled her close and she snuggled tighter against him, pressing a kiss to his chest. “Good morning,” she said cheerfully.

“You’re chipper this early,” Damon muttered as he kissed her head. 

“I’ve been up for a while. Had to head down for some breakfast before I starved,” she chuckled. 

“Right. Sorry. I forgot about how hungry newbies get,” he said sheepishly. 

“So did I,” Elena pointed out, reminding him that it wasn’t her first time. “We need to go out tonight,” she told him. “I need some fresh blood.”

“We’ll need to leave town for it, but I’ll see if I can’t find a frat party at one of the closer campuses or we can go into the city and find a club,” Damon offered. 

“Either one is fine,” Elena agreed. 

“We should probably get up,” he said regretfully, turning and pressing a kiss to her head. “I’m gonna need a tide over until we can go out tonight too.” Elena leaned up and kissed him softly before getting up. She grabbed his same shirt that she wore the last time she got up, but this time put some pants on too. Damon grabbed the sides of the shirt before she could button it and pulled her in for a kiss. “Do you know how much I love seeing you in my shirts?” he purred as he started buttoning it up for her. 

“I have a pretty good idea,” she grinned, trailing her hands up his arms and around his shoulders, playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. He only buttoned it far enough to cover her breasts before kissing her again and grabbing a t-shirt to put on. 

When they headed downstairs, they were met by Stefan. “Can we talk?” he asked hopefully. 

Elena looked at Damon who shrugged, so she did too. “Sure. Why not?” When they followed him to the living room where Caroline was, she wondered if Caroline had told Stefan about their future, before she realized that she didn’t care. She’d washed her hands of it for a reason.


	8. Chapter 8

As they sat down, Caroline looked at Damon distastefully. “Does /he/ really have to be here?” 

“I have more right to be here than you,” Damon sneered. 

“Yes, he has to be here. Just let it go Caroline,” Elena said firmly. 

“Let it go? Do you know what he did to me? I remember everything now.”

“I would apologize, but I’m not really sorry,” Damon shrugged. “You were just a simple human. A means to an end. For Elena’s sake I’ll play nice, but don’t push me,” he warned. 

“Don’t bother Caroline,” Stefan told her. “Damon doesn’t know the meaning of remorse.”

“You cannot be that blind and stupid,” Elena snapped. Someone going after Damon was a good way to piss her off. 

“I think you’re the blind one,” Stefan told her. “He told me himself that he doesn’t let himself feel guilt.” All thoughts of fixing things with them flew out the window. Between helping her through her changes and knowing that she would be his wife one day, he was more than a little protective of Caroline. 

“You don’t really believe that, do you?” Elena asked incredulously. “You of all people should know how much guilt can affect people.”

“Damon has always been a monster,” Stefan pointed out. 

“He’s not wrong,” Damon said evenly. 

Elena could tell by the tension in his body that this was affecting him more than he let on. “Yes. He is.”

“I doubt you know the worst of what I’ve done,” Damon pointed out. 

“I know everything, Damon,” Elena said gently, reaching a hand to his cheek. “Including the day that has haunted you ever since. May 10th 1994.” 

Damon looked away and screwed his eyes shut. “Don’t…” 

“There are things that you don’t know about that day, Damon,” she said softly before looking at Stefan. “Do you want to tell him or should I?” 

“No. He doesn’t need to know, Elena. Leave it be,” Stefan said frantically. 

“He does need to know, Stefan. Whether you believe it or not, it’s been tearing him apart for the last sixteen years,” Elena snapped. 

“What don’t I know?” Damon asked concernedly. 

“Stefan?” Elena asked, but he just glared at her so she turned back to Damon. “The baby survived, Damon. Her name is Sarah. She was adopted by a loving family, grew up to be a photographer, got married, had children, grandchildren, a full happy supernatural free life.” 

Damon looked gob-smacked for a moment and Elena could see the weight slowly lifting off his shoulders. Before he could say anything though, Stefan said, “It doesn’t matter. He couldn’t have known she would live and he still did it anyway. He deserves to carry that.”

Elena got up and slapped him. “Beth-Anne Wilkins, age seven, killed by a ripper in Chicago. Jordan Thomas, age nine, killed by a ripper in Houston. Angela Stevens age four, killed by a ripper in Houston. Kimberly Gilbert, age six, killed by a ripper in Mystic Falls. I could go on. I know a dozen more off the top of my head.”

“Just stop…please,” Stefan begged, head in his hands. 

Elena wasn’t done yet though. “Do you know how many children I’ve killed, Stefan? Zero. Do you know how many children Damon has killed? Zero, and the one that he thought he had almost destroyed him. Why do you think he’s been so much worse since then? Why he kills so much more than he used to? Because he feels like a monster so he acts on it. You have NO right to judge him.”

Damon got up and ran his hands soothingly down her arms, pulling her back a few steps away from Stefan. “I want to see her,” Damon said in almost a whisper. 

“Please, Damon. Just leave her alone,” Stefan begged. 

“I’m not gonna hurt her,” Damon snapped. “I won’t even talk to her. I just…I need to see her with my own eyes.”

Elena turned to him and took his hands. “I’ll take you tomorrow,” she promised before turning back to Stefan. “And /you/ need to get off your high horse before you end up making things even worse.” She had forgotten how bad Stefan was in this time. How self-righteous he had been. Not to mention, how much he’d hated his brother. She turned back to Damon. “There’s a few things I wanted to do today if you want to come with me?” she suggested. 

“Of course,” Damon agreed, very much needing to get out of this house right now. 

Once the front door slammed behind Damon and Elena, a shell-shocked Caroline turned to Stefan. “What the hell was that about? Killing kids?” 

Stefan sighed heavily, hoping that this explanation wouldn’t make him lose her forever. “I’m what’s known as a ripper,” he admitted. “It’s a rare condition in vampires. It basically means that human blood is like a drug. I get high on it and lose all control. I don’t even realize what I’m doing until it’s over and then the guilt overwhelms me. Sometimes so much so that I turn off my humanity and then go on a real binge. That’s why I only drink animal blood now. Why I try to be so careful not to hurt people.”

Caroline was horrified and couldn’t even think about that right now. “A-and Damon? What did he do? He tried to kill a kid?” At least Stefan had an excuse, though she needed time to come to terms with the validity of that excuse. 

“You remember Zach?” Stefan asked and Caroline nodded. “He was married once. His wife was pregnant. Damon lost his temper and killed her. She had only been seven months along. The fact that the doctors were able to save the baby was a miracle. I rushed her to the hospital, expecting the worst, but when Sarah survived, I found a family to adopt her to keep her far away from Damon. She was better off never knowing us.” 

“I need…” Caroline took a deep breath. “I need to go. I’m…” she got up and headed for the door. 

“Caroline, wait…” Stefan called after her. 

“No,” she shook her head. “I’ll be fine. I won’t hurt anyone. I’ll figure it out. I just…I can’t be here right now,” she rushed out the door. 

Elena led Damon into the woods and he asked, “What are we doing?” 

“Catching me a raven,” Elena smirked. “I was gonna do this another day, but I needed to get out of there before I really lost my temper.” Sometimes the enhanced emotions of being a vampire were annoying. 

“Makes sense. So I taught you the raven thing then huh?” Damon chuckled. 

“Yep. It definitely comes in handy sometimes,” she said before speeding forward and breaking the neck of a squirrel. She cut it’s stomach open and dumped it on the ground to make it attract the carrion easier and then she and Damon moved away to watch and wait. 

“I should grab another one too. I let my last one go,” Damon admitted. 

Elena laughed. “While I don’t use mine the way you do for the whole shock and awe thing, I have to admit it was pretty cool. If a little melodramatic.” 

Damon laughed with her, feeling the tension from the morning falling away. “You know me. I love to make an entrance.” 

“That’s an understatement.” Elena leaned back against his chest where he was leaning against the tree and his arms wrapped around her. “But having spies to find the good meals is still helpful.” 

“That’s true. I hadn’t considered that,” Damon admitted, running his thumbs along her arms. 

“You would have soon enough,” she assured him. “…Oh here we go.” She pulled out of his arms and got up, waiting for him to be ready too. They would scatter when they rushed them, so it was best to do it together. 

“Three…two…” Damon counted down and they both took off at the count of one. Elena almost missed hers, forgetting how much slower she was now that she was younger, but managed to catch a foot. Once she caught the bird’s eyes it stopped struggling and she pulled up her compulsion power, linking it to her mind. 

They both held up their arms and let their respective birds settle there. Elena reached up and ran a hand over the inky black feathers. “Hello Huginn,” she smiled. 

“You named yours?” Damon asked amusedly. 

“I named yours too. Muninn,” she told him. 

“Why?” Damon asked curiously. 

“Huginn and Muninn were ravens in Norse Mythology. They belonged to the god king Odin and they flew all over the world and gathered information to bring back to him,” Elena explained. 

Damon laughed. “Fitting names then. Okay Muninn. Fly free. I’ll call you when I need you,” he said as he tossed his arm in the air, helping the bird to take flight and Elena did the same. 

Elena smiled as she watched them fly away before she sighed. “We should get back. Make sure Stef hasn’t fallen off the deep end again.” She knew that she’d been harsh with him. Maybe even too harsh. But it needed to be said. It had taken far too long last time for him to stop judging Damon, and if she, and probably Damon, were going to be leaving town, they wouldn’t get a chance to fix it the slow way like last time. She still needed to talk to Damon about leaving, but that could wait until tomorrow. 

“Yeah. That’s probably a good idea,” Damon said with a wince. If he knew Stefan he was probably a mess right now.


	9. Chapter 9

Once Stefan was alone, he went upstairs and pulled out his journal. It always helped him to write out his thoughts. He thought back over the fight as he wrote it down. Had Elena been right? Was Damon really as consumed by guilt as she said? She was definitely right that he knew what guilt could do to someone. And that Damon had gotten a lot worse since what happened back in ninety four. The fact that Elena knew the exact date proved that Damon remembered it, which was a point in favor of her argument. Still…that didn’t mean that Damon should be absolved of what he did.

Stefan knew that he’d done a lot worse though. He told himself that it wasn’t his fault. That he hadn’t been able to control it. That was true, but did that really make him more worthy of absolution? Or less. He thought back to that time and knew that at least some small part of the blame rested on him. He had kept pushing Damon, refusing to believe that he wasn’t looking for trouble. He knew Damon’s tendency to lose his temper. All vampires were that way really, but Damon was worse in a lot of ways. Had Damon really been genuine about trying to reconnect? About just wanting his family back? Stefan hadn’t believed him at the time, but now…

After that happened, Damon had taken off. He had gone on a killing spree that had slowed down after a couple years, but never really stopped. Stefan had kept track of him all over the country. It hadn’t been hard. He just had to follow the bodies. If Elena was right, then it had all been his fault. Gail, Sarah, every death that happened after. Then he remembered what Damon had told him a couple weeks ago. ‘My actions, what I do, it’s not your fault. I own them. They belong to me. You are not allowed to feel my guilt.’ That was what Damon had told him then, and that’s exactly what Stefan was doing. 

He was pulled out of his thoughts about two hours after he came up by a knock on the doorframe and he looked up to see Elena standing there. He sighed and waved her in. “I’m not going to apologize for what I said,” Elena told him. “But I shouldn’t have lost my temper.”

“It’s fine,” Stefan waved it off. “You were right. I /don’t/ have any right to judge Damon. Or anyone else for that matter. I don’t have the right to judge you either.”

“No. You don’t,” Elena said simply. “I’m not the same person I was. I can’t be. Any more than you’re the same person you were a hundred years ago. I told you before that you never agreed with my lifestyle in the future, but you can disagree without judging.” 

“I know. But when he kills people you care about it’s a different story,” Stefan said with a sigh. 

“He killed people I cared about too, you know,” Elena told him. “In fact, the night I came back, he would have killed Jeremy in a fit of temper. He killed two of my father figures. He killed one of my college friends after we got in a fight and temporarily broke up. He tried to kill Bonnie a couple times. I get it. Believe me.”

“How do you get over it?” Stefan asked. “How do you still love him after all that?” Between Gail, Zach, and Lexi he had plenty of baggage with Damon. 

“Well the only ones I can really blame him for are Jeremy and my college friend Aaron. The others were self-defense for the most part. Jeremy came back thanks to a ring he was wearing and Damon was as relieved as anyone. That was the first time I ever saw true gut-wrenching remorse from him. It took me some time to forgive him for that, but I realized that we all make mistakes. We all do things that we wish we hadn’t. We all hurt people. He’s a vampire. Killing people is natural to him so that’s what he falls back on when he’s hurt and feels threatened. It’s not the best way to handle it, and he did get better with that, but when you’re called a monster often enough, it tends to stick with you. You reach a point where you decide there’s no point in fighting it so you might as well prove them right.”

Stefan took a long moment to think about that before nodding. “I see your point. Do you…do you think he feels guilty about Zach and Lexi too?” Stefan couldn’t help but ask. 

“Zach, a little but, but not so much,” Elena didn’t worry about Damon being upset with her for sharing. Just because he couldn’t talk about it didn’t mean that he minded it being known. “Zach was a grown man who intentionally put himself into a fight with a starving pissed off vampire. Lexi though…she haunted him for a long time. There were other reasons that he did it that I’m not at liberty to share, but yes. He feels horribly guilty for her.” 

Stefan nodded. He’d suspected as much about Lexi, but was glad to have it confirmed. Damon had all but groveled for his forgiveness after that, after all. He hadn’t been entirely sure it wasn’t a trick until now though. No matter how cold and hard Elena got, he didn’t think she would lie to him about this. And he couldn’t really dispute what she said about Zach either. No matter why he’d done it, he still had. “Yeah. I get that. It’s still gonna take me some time though. To come to terms with all that and what’s going on with you two.” 

“I know. And you’ll have that time. I’m gonna have to leave town soon…”

“What? Why?” Stefan asked worriedly. 

“Mostly because of what will be coming for me if I don’t. This town is a magnet for supernatural activity and the reason I look like Katherine is because I’m a doppelganger and it turns out my blood is one of the most powerful magical substances in the world. The wrong people are going to find out that I’m here very soon, which means I can’t be here.” 

“You said mostly…”

“There’s too many memories. Everyone here, other than you, Damon, and Caroline, I’ve already lost. Mourned them and put those feelings aside. Seeing them again, getting close again…it’s too much.”

“So you’re just going to leave? Let them spend the rest of forever looking for you?” 

“No. I have a few loose ends to tie up and then they’ll think I’m dead. I’d appreciate it if you hang back and keep an eye on things. In a few years, or whenever you want to leave, we can meet up again. That’ll give you time to come to terms with things and heal and then we can become a family again,” Elena told him. 

Stefan nodded. “Okay. I can do that,” he promised. “I’d like to keep an eye on Caroline anyway, even if she doesn’t want anything to do with me now,” he said sadly. 

Elena winced. “Because of what I said?” Stefan nodded. “I’ll go talk to her tomorrow. Give her the day to calm down.”

“I would appreciate that,” Stefan said with a sad smile. 

“Of course,” Elena patted his arm before getting up and heading out.

When Elena got downstairs, she saw that Damon had put the computer aside and was staring into the fire blankly. “You’re leaving?” he asked heart-brokenly. Not that he could blame her after hearing everything he’d done to her. All the people close to her that he’d killed. He’d thought that she was over it, but he had to admit, giving him hope like that and stringing him along before bailing was definitely a fitting revenge. 

“No, Damon. No,” she rushed over to sit next to him and reached out to run a hand through his hair, but he jerked away from her touch. 

“That’s what you told Stefan.”

“No, I mean…I /am/ leaving. I don’t have a choice in that. But I’m not leaving /you/. I want you to come with me, Damon, but even if you don’t want to, I’ll wait for you. I would die before I ever left you, Damon,” she vowed. “You are my life. I love you. And I will love you until I take my last breath on this earth.” 

Damon turned to look hopefully at her and this time when she reached out, he didn’t pull away, searching her eyes for the truth. When he could see how sincere she was, he just pulled her forward into a desperate kiss which she returned gratefully. “I love you too, Elena. So much I can barely stand it. I thought…”

“Never,” she said firmly. “I am yours, Damon Salvatore. For as long as I exist. No matter what.” 

He buried his head in her hair as he hugged her to him. “And I’m yours, Elena. Always.”


	10. Chapter 10

Damon found them a frat party that was only about an hour away that had a reputation for being crazy. Crazy enough to give them plenty of chances to feed. Elena sighed as she went through her clothes looking for something to wear. She forgot how bad her fashion sense was in this time. She eventually settled on something that wasn’t too horrible though and Damon seemed to appreciate it, so it would work. 

Once they got to the party, they enjoyed themselves for a while scoping the place out and giving people time to get drunk and high. They paced themselves on the drinks and didn’t touch the drugs though. They would get more than enough from the blood of the people who were doing them. It took them about an hour to spot their first target. A girl who was dancing with and grinding on pretty much every guy in the place. Elena spotted her first and jerked her head that direction. Damon saw where she was looking and gave a smug nod so they headed that way. 

Damon moved in front of her to dance and she gladly took him up on the offer. He took the opportunity to catch her eyes and say, “Act natural.” That was Elena’s cue to move up behind her as Damon bit into one side of her neck and Elena the other as they pressed together and danced. Damon’s arm went around the girl and tangled in Elena’s hair as they drank and he really hoped she knew and was okay with how things like this affected him. He realized that she was when her hand reached around and grabbed his ass, pulling him tighter against the girl between them as he ground his erection against her. 

Once she started getting woozy, they both stopped drinking and Damon compelled her to forget while Elena fixed her hair around the bite marks. When they moved away from her, Elena easily took her place grinding against Damon who kissed her deeply, grabbing her ass and pulling her tighter against him. While they were dancing, if they could call it that, Damon noticed something near the bar area and whispered to Elena, “Blonde ponce at the bar just roofied a girl.” He spun her around so she could get a good look at him and she nodded. 

Elena slipped away from him and sidled up to the bar, interrupting the conversation that he was having with the girl he’d just roofied. She ran a hand enticingly down his chest as she compelled him, “Follow me.” When she grabbed his hand and started leading him off, Damon came up and compelled the girl to dump the drink and get a new one before following Elena and dickhead upstairs. He noticed a spot of blood on the frame of one of the doors and chuckled, knowing that was a signal so he went into that room. 

Elena turned the guy’s back to him and motioned him forward before compelling the guy again. “You can fight, but quietly.” She loved when they put up a fight. Give them a taste of the fear and pain they inflict. Damon’s breath hitched at that as he looked at her in awe for a second as she bit into the struggling guy’s neck. She really was the perfect girl for him. He took his place from behind and bit into the other side of his neck and between the two of them he was dry in minutes. They could have gone faster, of course, but he deserved to have it dragged out. 

“I’ll dump him in the trunk and meet you back downstairs?” Damon suggested and she easily agreed. He gave her a hard kiss before picking up the body and jumping out the window and Elena went back downstairs. They shared two more snacks that got to live before they skipped out of the party near midnight. One was another girl who was already wearing a scarf and the other a guy with a collar. They drove to the river and dumped the body. They didn’t care if it got found. Just that it was messed up enough to hide the cause of death by the time it was and water was good for that. 

That done, Damon drove the car into the woods before moving to the passenger seat while flipping Elena into his lap. She captured him in a searing kiss as she reached down to undo his pants and he hiked up her dress. The whole party had basically been foreplay and they were both aching for more. The second she had his large cock released from his pants she sank down on it with a moan, throwing her head back. Damon immediately moved his lips to her neck and over her shoulders as one hand grabbed her bare ass and the other slid up under her dress to her breasts. 

Damon thrust up into her as she rode him and her hand in his hair pulled his lips back to her neck. “Drink, Damon,” she panted, pulling a choked moan from him as he did just that. Blood-sharing between two vampires was so personal that he hadn’t dared before now. He took a long drink from her, feeling his lust spike another few notches, but forcing himself not to cum yet. Not until she had a turn, at least. When he pulled away, she pulled his head to the side by his hair. 

When she seemed to hesitate, he realized that she was waiting for permission. “Yes, Elena…please…” he begged and the moment he felt her fangs pierce his neck and pull that first draw of blood he was gone, screaming her name as he came harder than he ever had in his life and then she was right behind him, her orgasm milking him for even more. She continued drinking as they rode out the waves, panting and twitching and when she pulled back he could see his blood dripping down her chin just as her blood was dripping down his and he pulled her into a hard deep kiss, that only ended because they were both too out of breath to continue it. 

Damon’s hand slid up to caress her cheek, fingers sliding into her hair. “God, I love you,” he breathed out. 

“I love you too,” she replied, leaning her head into his touch and turning to kiss his wrist. They took a few more minutes to enjoy the moment before straightening themselves out and getting back on the road, heading home. 

Once they got home, they shared a nice long bath. After spending hours grinding up on so many sweaty people they definitely needed one. By the time they were out and dry and back in bed, they were lost in each other again and this time was as slow and sweet as last time was fast and hard. As they lay there catching their breath and starting to drift off to sleep, Damon was so overcome with emotion that he felt the tears stinging his eyes. He hadn’t realized that it was possible to love someone this much. 

He had been telling her the truth when they first met. At least he assumed that everyone wanted those things. He knew that he did. And he had it now. He’d always had the adventure and danger, but now he had a love that consumed him and a burning passion. More than that even, she accepted him, just as he was. She didn’t try to make him better or worse. She didn’t want to change anything about him. She just loved him for what he really was. Good, bad, and everything in between. He swore to himself to spend the rest of his existence making sure that she never regretted it for a minute. He would do everything in his power to make her as happy as she made him. He leaned his head against hers as he felt sleep overtaking him. 

Elena sighed happily, snuggled against Damon’s side. She didn’t even have words for how much she had missed this. Those five months without him might as well have been five centuries. He may be younger and less experienced than he was in the future, but he was still Damon. Still the reckless, wild, passionate, free spirit she fell in love with. The same man whose side she stood by for four hundred and eighteen years of marriage. Being with him again was like a balm to her soul and she would never get enough. She pressed a sloppy kiss to his chest as she followed him into sleep, never feeling as happy or as safe as she did in his arms.


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning, Elena slipped down to the kitchen without waking Damon, glad when she found some strawberries in the fridge and took them back up to their room and moved to the window. When she opened it, Huginn flew in and landed on her arm. “Thank you, boy. You did a good job,” she said softly as she fed him the strawberries. 

“What did he do?” Damon slurred sleepily. 

“I had him keep an eye on Caroline after her little freakout,” Elena told him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“S’okay. I was already half awake,” he said as he stretched. 

“I started some coffee already and then I was gonna head to Caroline’s and talk to her for a while.” 

“I’ll join you for the coffee,” he offered, dragging himself out of bed as Huginn flew off again, having finished his treat. 

When Caroline answered the door, Elena could see that she hadn’t slept well even without Huginn’s report. “Elena. Come on in,” Caroline said with a weak smile. “My mom’s not here.” 

Elena came in and had another cup of coffee with Caroline as they sat on the couch. “You doing okay?” she asked. 

“I don’t even know right now,” Caroline admitted. “I mean…I’m a vampire. I don’t want to hurt people. I don’t want to be like this.” 

“If you don’t want to hurt people then don’t,” Elena said simply. “One of the best things about being a vampire is the freedom. You can do whatever you want. Hurt people, don’t hurt people, feed from animals, blood bags, only take a little from humans, kill them, whatever. And the freedom isn’t just limited to feeding. You can go wherever you want, do whatever you want…have you run yet?” 

“No, why?” Caroline asked confused. 

“Because you haven’t felt real freedom until you run so fast that humans don’t see more than blur, if that. Until you’ve jumped so high you feel like you’re flying. There are no rules, no restrictions.”

“Stefan doesn’t want to hurt people either but he does,” she got back to the important part, filing what Elena said away for later. 

“Stefan is different,” Elena told her. “He’s a ripper. He’s genetically incapable of control. That’s why he drinks animal blood. So that he doesn’t have to worry about it. He does fall off the wagon sometimes, but he does try,” Elena told her. 

“What if I’m like that too?” Caroline asked fearfully. 

“If you were you would know it by now,” Elena told her. “You had human blood while you were in the hospital. You even fed from that nurse directly.”

“Yeah, and Stefan and Damon had to pull me off of her.”

“That was just because you were so new,” Elena assured her. “If you were a ripper, you would have fought them a lot harder and then gone after every human you’ve seen since. Lack of control is common in the first few days.” 

“You’re sure?” Caroline asked, eyes full of hope. 

“Positive,” Elena told her. 

“Okay,” Caroline relaxed quite a bit. “Do you…I mean…have you killed people?” she asked. 

“Yes. I killed someone just last night actually. A guy tried to roofie a girl at a frat party,” Elena told her. 

“So you killed him for it?” Caroline asked not sure if she should be horrified or not. 

“Yeah. I did. I see it as doing my part to help people. If he did it once, he’ll do it again and has probably done it before. Every girl that he would have hurt is now that much safer,” Elena explained. 

“He could have just been arrested,” Caroline said weakly. 

“He’s a frat kid. You know how that goes. They have lawyers up the wazoo and he’d get a slap on the wrist at best and be right back to what he was doing.”

“Yeah. That’s true. So you only kill the bad ones?” Caroline asked. 

“Yeah. Otherwise I just ‘graze’ so to speak. Grab a little bit from each person erase their memories and move on,” Elena told her. 

“Why not just drink from the blood bags? I saw you do it yesterday morning,” Caroline pointed out. 

“Yeah, they work in a pinch, but I don’t really like them. They’re cold and stale,” Elena said as she scrunched up her nose.

“H-how was I in the future? I mean…what did I do?” 

“You mostly drank from the blood bags and only from living people every once in a while, but you didn’t kill.”

“So I never killed anyone at all?” she asked hopefully. 

“When you first turned last time and we didn’t realize what happened right away, you killed someone on accident when you lost control. Then there was a brief period where you turned your humanity off and killed a few people, but other than that, no. You never killed.” 

“Okay, good,” she sighed in relief. “But how could I be with Stefan after the things he did?”

“You understood that it wasn’t really him doing those things. It was a sickness and not his fault,” Elena told her. “He doesn’t ‘fall off the wagon’ very often and now he has people to help him when he does. Before he hurts people.” 

“I just can’t stop thinking about those kids…”

“I’m sorry,” Elena said sadly. “That’s my fault. I should never have brought it up. I just lost my temper. One of the downsides to vampirism. You have to understand that we all have things we’re not proud of in our pasts. Things that haunt us…”

“Like Damon killing the pregnant lady?” 

“Yeah. Like that,” Elena said sadly. “With Stefan’s issues, he has more baggage than most, but he’s also less at fault than most too.” 

“Yeah. I guess I get that. I just need a few days to wrap my head around it is all,” Caroline said.

“I understand completely. And so will Stefan,” Elena told her. 

“Can I ask you something else?” 

“Of course. Anything.”

“Is it normal for like…animals to follow you around and stuff as a vampire?” 

“What do you mean?” Elena asked curiously. 

“Well there was this bird…it kept perching on my window watching me all night last night. It kinda creeped me out.”

Elena burst into laughed. “Sorry. That would be my fault too. That was Huginn. He’s mine. I sent him to keep an eye on you and let me know if you needed me since you were so upset.” 

“He’s yours like…how? And you can talk to him?” 

“Sort of. It’s more like I can see and hear what he does to a point. I have to really focus most of the time, but when I ask him to watch for something, he can send me images that I need to see. It’s a trick Damon taught me in the future. Basically using compulsion to link our minds.”

“Okay but why? To spy on people?” 

“Sort of. I’ve always used mine to keep an eye on things and help me make sure that someone is worth killing. Damon uses his a little more freely. He likes the shock and awe factor of messing with people,” she chuckled. “He’s a bit of a drama queen sometimes.” 

“I still don’t see how you can stand him,” Caroline shook her head. 

“Just because you don’t really know him,” Elena told her. “He doesn’t let many people in.”

“But I liked him in the future?” 

“Mostly,” Elena laughed. “You two drove each other nuts sometimes, but you were still family and still loved each other.” 

“Then I’ll give him a chance,” Caroline promised. “But that’s the best I can do.”

“Fair enough,” Elena nodded. She could handle people not liking him, and even snarking at him. That was why she didn’t mind when Caroline did that yesterday. It was when people actually hurt him, like Stefan had that pissed her off. It wasn’t like she was the only one though. He defended her just as vociferously and usually a little more violently. The two of them chatted for another hour or two before Elena headed out. 

No sooner than she left Caroline’s house though she felt the creeping feeling of eyes on her. She called Huginn in her mind to scope out the area while she walked lazily towards the woods. If it was who she thought it was, she might just be able to get her unfinished business over with and get out of here. When she got the image from Huginn of who was watching her, she resisted the urge to grin and picked up a ‘walking stick’. As much as she would love nothing more than to rip the bitch’s heart from her chest, she had to make it look like a human did it, which meant a stake through the heart. With any luck, Katherine wouldn’t realize she’d been turned so she could get the drop on her. 

Elena walked around the edge of the woods, far enough in to have some privacy, but close enough that she would be found quickly. It wasn’t long before she heard Katherine approaching and forced herself not to react, knowing that a human would never be able to hear her. When she sensed Katherine directly behind her, she used her vampire speed to spin and shove the walking stick into her. She missed the heart, but she figured she would that time. She’d manage to paralyze her though. Long enough for her to break off a branch and actually hit the heart that time. Katherine hadn’t even managed to get a word out. Elena pulled out the walking stick and left the tree branch before hightailing it back to the Salvatore’s at top speed. 

She rushed in and up to Damon’s room, packing up all her stuff that was there. “It’s time to go,” she told him. “Assuming you’re planning on coming with me?” 

“Like I’m ever gonna let you go,” Damon chuckled, following her lead and packing up. “Why the rush?”

“Because my loose ends just got tied up and my ‘body’ could be found any minute now,” she explained. 

“Your body?” Damon asked confused. 

“Katherine.” 

“She’s dead?” Damon gasped. 

“Yep. And good riddance,” Elena said with a smirk before realizing that it wasn’t so long ago that he thought himself in love with her. “Are you…okay with that?” 

“Yeah. I’m good. I just…it’s a surprise is all,” Damon assured her. 

“Okay good,” Elena said relieved. “And we’ll swing by and see Sarah on the way out too. I didn’t forget my promise.” 

“Okay,” Damon said with a smile and pulled her into a kiss. “But we need to let Stefan know before we leave.”

“Is he here? If not we’ll just have to leave a note.”

“I’m here,” Stefan said stepping into the room having heard their conversation. “And I heard.” 

“Let Caroline and Bonnie know that I’m okay and I’ll be in touch in a few days or so?” Elena asked him. 

“I will,” Stefan promised. 

“You realize that the council will know that the dead body is a vampire right?” Damon asked. 

“I know, but I really don’t care if they think I was turned before I was killed. They won’t be looking for the murderer that way so it’s a plus.”

“Fair enough,” Damon shrugged. “I’ll go load the car while you say goodbye. I’ll be back.” 

Elena pulled Stefan into a warm hug. “Take care of yourself, Stef. I’ll be getting a new phone and email and everything, but I’ll shoot you the number asap, and until then you can reach me through Damon.”

Stefan hugged her back tightly. “Okay. You take care of yourself too. Don’t worry about anything. I’ll take care of things here.” 

“Thanks,” she said as she let go and stepped back. When Damon got back to say his own goodbyes, Elena resisted the urge to smack them both, making herself remember that they were just starting to get out of the hating each other phase, and then she and Damon were on the road. 

She detoured him through North Carolina and they ended up getting there at the perfect time to see Sarah getting home from school. Damon watched her with a smile all the way until she went into the house before they drove off. “She looks a lot like her mother, but I can see some of Zach in her too,” he said as they did.

“Yeah, she’s a good kid. Happy, healthy, good grades,” Elena told him, reaching out to take his hand and he pulled hers to his lips. 

“Thank you, Elena,” he said relieved. “So where are we going now?” 

“Surprise me,” she said with a grin.


End file.
